La factibilidad técnica, ambiental y económica de la separación y utilización de los residuos sólidos como recurso a gran escala en el área metropolitana de Buenos Aires

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to evaluate the feasibility to separate a fraction of urban solid waste of the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area, where 13.000 tons of wastes per day are generated, in order to consider its value and transform it into resources that can be used as raw materials for a new productive process. In other words, the aim is to change the way the waste is currently managed, which is mainly unidirectional (collection to final disposal only) towards an integral management that incorporates both Separation and Recycling Plants. The average values for each component from the solid waste with the potential for its commercialization were determined from the 2002 study database of the characterization and quantification of waste components from Buenos Aires City. The obtained results allowed the economic and financial evaluation of the construction and operation of a Waste Separation Plant that uses local technology and would be located in a Final Disposal Center. Different scenarios for the separation, recovery, commercialization potential and transport of the recovered material were simulated. For all analyzed cases, the conclusions demonstrate that the proposal is technically feasible, environmentally sustainable and economically viable.